AppleInsider Staff
An International Trade Commission judge has ruled that Samsung infringed on an Apple patent by including a text-selection feature in its mobile devices.
A figure from Apple's U.S. Patent No. RE41,922
In a decision issued on March 26 but kept confidential until Thursday, an ITC judge gave a preliminary decision that found Samsung to be infringing on one of two Apple patents in question. Depending on the decision of the full ITC commission, the devices that include the infringing technology — including Samsung's Galaxy, Transform, and Nexus devices, as well as others — could face import bans in the United States, Reuters reported on Friday.
The patent in question is U.S. Patent No. RE41,922, covering a "method and apparatus for providing translucent images on a computer display." Patent litigation commentator Florian Mueller notes that Samsung features found particularly to be in violation are the text selection feature of the Android Browser application and the translucent buttons of the Android photo gallery.
The same decision found that Samsung did not infringe on a second Apple patent in which a device can tell whether a microphone or other attachment is plugged into its microphone jack. While the ruling was issued on March 26, it was kept confidential until Thursday in order to allow Apple and Samsung to redact sensitive business information.
The full commission will decide whether to uphold or overturn the judge's decision, with a final decision expected in August.
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21 Comments
Quote: ITC judge finds Samsung to be infringing We found it when it was released itself.
There's no actual method or apparatus claimed in this updated patent.
The patent simply claims various combinations of the idea of putting a translucent window or image on top of others, with or without input.
This claim of owning translucent overlays is a prime example of a software patent that should never have been granted.
However, the ITC often overturns preliminary judge findings, so we'll see what actually ends up happening.
Sadly all decisions in favor of Apple are overturned eventually.
How about a patent to pick your nose? This is utterly ridiculous. I don't have any respect for Apple along these lines and I am a long time Apple product owner.
Samsung carbon copied Apple store setup inside BestBuy.